PART II. WEALTH - Royalty

Chapter. 56. The Cruel Sceptre

Kural - 552
As 'Give' the robber cries with lance uplift,
So kings with sceptred hand implore a gift.
The request (for money) of him who holds the sceptre is like the word of a highway robber who stands with a weapon in hand and says "give up your wealth".

Kural - 553
Who makes no daily search for wrongs, nor justly rules, that king
Doth day by day his realm to ruin bring.
The country of the king who does not daily examine into the wrongs done and distribute justice, will daily fall to ruin.

Kural - 554
Whose rod from right deflects, who counsel doth refuse,
At once his wealth and people utterly shall lose.
The king, who, without reflecting (on its evil consequences), perverts justice, will lose at once both his wealth and his subjects.

Kural - 555
His people's tears of sorrow past endurance, are not they
Sharp instruments to wear the monarch's wealth away?
Will not the tears, shed by a people who cannot endure the oppression which they suffer (from their king), become a saw to waste away his wealth ?

Kural - 556
To rulers' rule stability is sceptre right;
When this is not, quenched is the rulers' light.
Righteous government gives permanence to (the fame of) kings; without that their fame will have no endurance.

Kural - 557
As lack of rain to thirsty lands beneath,
Is lack of grace in kings to all that breathe.
As is the world without rain, so live a people whose king is without kindness.

Kural - 558
To poverty it adds a sharper sting,
To live beneath the sway of unjust king.
Property gives more sorrow than poverty, to those who live under the sceptre of a king without justice.

Kural - 559
Where king from right deflecting, makes unrighteous gain,
The seasons change, the clouds pour down no rain.
If the king acts contrary to justice, rain will become unseasonable, and the heavens will withhold their showers.

Kural - 560
Where guardian guardeth not, udder of kine grows dry,
And Brahmans' sacred lore will all forgotten lie.
If the guardian (of the country) neglects to guard it, the produce of the cows will fail, and the men of six duties viz., the Brahmins will forget the vedas.

Chapter. 57. Absence of 'Terrorism'

Kural - 561
Who punishes, investigation made in due degree,
So as to stay advance of crime, a king is he.
He is a king who having equitably examined (any injustice which has been brought to his notice), suitably punishes it, so that it may not be again committed.

Kural - 562
For length of days with still increasing joys on Heav'n who call,
Should raise the rod with brow severe, but let it gently fall.
Let the king, who desires that his prosperity may long remain, commence his preliminary enquires with strictness, and then punish with mildness.

Kural - 563
Where subjects dread of cruel wrongs endure,
Ruin to unjust king is swift and sure.
The cruel-sceptred king, who acts so as to put his subjects in fear, will certainly and quickly come to ruin.

Kural - 564
'Ah! cruel is our king', where subjects sadly say,
His age shall dwindle, swift his joy of life decay.
The king who is spoken of as cruel will quickly perish; his life becoming shortened.

Kural - 565
Whom subjects scarce may see, of harsh forbidding countenance;
His ample wealth shall waste, blasted by demon's glance.
The great wealth of him who is difficult of access and possesses a sternness of countenance, is like that which has been obtained by a devil.

Kural - 566
The tyrant, harsh in speach and hard of eye,
His ample joy, swift fading, soon shall die.
The abundant wealth of the king whose words are harsh and whose looks are void of kindness, will instantly perish instead of abiding long, with him.

Kural - 567
Harsh words and punishments severe beyond the right,
Are file that wears away the monarch's conquering might.
Severe words and excessive punishments will be a file to waste away a king's power for destroying (his enemies).

Kural - 568
Who leaves the work to those around, and thinks of it no more;
If he in wrathful mood reprove, his prosperous days are o'er!
The prosperity of that king will waste away, who without reflecting (on his affairs himself), commits them to his ministers, and (when a failure occurs) gives way to anger, and rages against them.

Kural - 569
Who builds no fort whence he may foe defy,
In time of war shall fear and swiftly die.
The king who has not provided himself with a place of defence, will in times of war be seized with fear and quickly perish.

Kural - 570
Tyrants with fools their counsels share:
Earth can no heavier burthen bear!
The earth bears up no greater burden than ignorant men whom a cruel sceptre attaches to itself (as the ministers of its evil deeds).

Chapter. 58. Benignity

Kural - 571
Since true benignity, that grace exceeding great, resides
In kingly souls, world in happy state abides.
The world exists through that greatest ornament (of princes), a gracious demeanour.

Kural - 572
The world goes on its wonted way, since grace benign is there;
All other men are burthen for the earth to bear.
The prosperity of the world springs from the kindliness, the existence of those who have no (kindliness) is a burden to the earth.

Kural - 573
Where not accordant with the song, what use of sounding chords?
What gain of eye that no benignant light affords?
Of what avail is a song if it be inconsistent with harmony ? what is the use of eyes which possess no kindliness.

Kural - 574
The seeming eye of face gives no expressive light,
When not with duly meted kindness bright.
Beyond appearing to be in the face, what good do they do, those eyes in which is no well-regulated kindness ?

Kural - 575
Benignity is eyes' adorning grace;
Without it eyes are wounds disfiguring face.
Kind looks are the ornaments of the eyes; without these they will be considered (by the wise) to be merely two sores.

Kural - 576
Whose eyes 'neath brow infixed diffuse no ray
Of grace; like tree in earth infixed are they.
They resemble the trees of the earth, who although they have eyes, never look kindly (on others).

Kural - 577
Eyeless are they whose eyes with no benignant lustre shine;
Who've eyes can never lack the light of grace benign.
Men without kind looks are men without eyes; those who (really) have eyes are also not devoid of kind looks.

Kural - 578
Who can benignant smile, yet leave no work undone;
By them as very own may all the earth be won.
The world is theirs (kings) who are able to show kindness, without injury to their affairs, (administration of justice).

Kural - 579
To smile on those that vex, with kindly face,
Enduring long, is most excelling grace.
Patiently to bear with, and show kindness to those who grieve us, is the most excellent of all dispositions.

Kural - 580
They drink with smiling grace, though poison interfused they see,
Who seek the praise of all-esteemed courtesy.
Those who desire (to cultivate that degree of) urbanity which all shall love, even after swallowing the poison served to them by their friends, will be friendly with them.

Chapter. 59. Detectives

Kural - 582
Each day, of every subject every deed,
'Tis duty of the king to learn with speed.
It is the duty of a king to know quickly (by a spy) what all happens, daily, amongst all men.

Kural - 583
By spies who spies, not weighing things they bring,
Nothing can victory give to that unwary king.
There is no way for a king to obtain conquests, who knows not the advantage of discoveries made by a spy.

Kural - 584
His officers, his friends, his enemies,
All these who watch are trusty spies.
He is a spy who watches all men, to wit, those who are in the king's employment, his relatives, and his enemies.

Kural - 585
Of unsuspected mien and all-unfearing eyes,
Who let no secret out, are trusty spies.
A spy is one who is able to assume an appearance which may create no suspicion (in the minds of others), who fears no man's face, and who never reveals (his purpose).

Kural - 586
As monk or devotee, through every hindrance making way,
A spy, whate'er men do, must watchful mind display.
He is a spy who, assuming the appearance of an ascetic, goes into (whatever place he wishes), examines into (all, that is needful), and never discovers himself, whatever may be done to him.

Kural - 587
A spy must search each hidden matter out,
And full report must render, free from doubt.
A spy is one who is able to discover what is hidden and who retains no doubt concerning what he has known.

Kural - 588
Spying by spies, the things they tell
To test by other spies is well.
Let not a king receive the information which a spy has discovered and made known to him, until he has examined it by another spy.

Kural - 589
One spy must not another see: contrive it so;
And things by three confirmed as truth you know.
Let a king employ spies so that one may have no knowledge of the other; and when the information of three agrees together, let him receive it.

Kural - 590
Reward not trusty spy in others' sight,
Or all the mystery will come to light.
Let not a king publicly confer on a spy any marks of his favour; if he does, he will divulge his own secret.

Chapter. 60. Energy

Kural - 592
The wealth of mind man owns a real worth imparts,
Material wealth man owns endures not, utterly departs.
The possession of (energy of) mind is true property; the possession of wealth passes away and abides not.

Kural - 593
'Lost is our wealth,' they utter not this cry distressed,
The men of firm concentred energy of soul possessed.
They who are possessed of enduring energy will not trouble themselves, saying, "we have lost our property."

Kural - 594
The man of energy of soul inflexible,
Good fortune seeks him out and comes a friend to dwell.
Wealth will find its own way to the man of unfailing energy.

Kural - 595
With rising flood the rising lotus flower its stem unwinds;
The dignity of men is measured by their minds.
The stalks of water-flowers are proportionate to the depth of water; so is men's greatness proportionate to their minds.

Kural - 596
Whate'er you ponder, let your aim be loftly still,
Fate cannot hinder always, thwart you as it will.
In all that a king thinks of, let him think of his greatness; and if it should be thrust from him (by fate), it will have the nature of not being thrust from him.

Kural - 597
The men of lofty mind quail not in ruin's fateful hour,
The elephant retains his dignity mind arrows' deadly shower.
The strong minded will not faint, even when all is lost; the elephant stands firm, even when wounded by a shower of arrows.

Kural - 598
The soulless man can never gain
Th' ennobling sense of power with men.
Those who have no (greatness of) mind, will not acquire the joy of saying in the world, "we have excercised liaberality".

Kural - 599
Huge bulk of elephant with pointed tusk all armed,
When tiger threatens shrinks away alarmed!
Although the elephant has a large body, and a sharp tusk, yet it fears the attack of the tiger.

Kural - 600
Firmness of soul in man is real excellance;
Others are trees, their human form a mere pretence.
Energy is mental wealth; those men who are destitute of it are only trees in the form of men.

Chapter. 61. Unsluggishness

Kural - 602
Let indolence, the death of effort, die,
If you'd uphold your household's dignity.
Let those, who desire that their family may be illustrious, put away all idleness from their conduct.

Kural - 603
Who fosters indolence within his breast, the silly elf!
The house from which he springs shall perish ere himself.
The (lustre of the) family of the ignorant man, who acts under the influence of destructive laziness will perish, even before he is dead.

Kural - 604
His family decays, and faults unheeded thrive,
Who, sunk in sloth, for noble objects doth not strive.
Family (greatness) will be destroyed, and faults will increase, in those men who give way to laziness, and put forth no dignified exertions.

Kural - 605
Delay, oblivion, sloth, and sleep: these four
Are pleasure-boat to bear the doomed to ruin's shore.
Procrastination, forgetfulness, idleness, and sleep, these four things, form the vessel which is desired by those destined to destruction.

Kural - 606
Though lords of earth unearned possessions gain,
The slothful ones no yield of good obtain.
It is a rare thing for the idle, even when possessed of the riches of kings who ruled over the whole earth, to derive any great benefit from it.

Kural - 607
Who hug their sloth, nor noble works attempt,
Shall bear reproofs and words of just contempt.
Those who through idleness, and do not engage themselves in dignified exertion, will subject themselves to rebukes and reproaches.

Kural - 608
If sloth a dwelling find mid noble family,
Bondsmen to them that hate them shall they be.
If idleness take up its abode in a king of high birth, it will make him a slave of his enemies.

Kural - 609
Who changes slothful habits saves
Himself from all that household rule depraves.
When a man puts away idleness, the reproach which has come upon himself and his family will disappear.

Kural - 610
The king whose life from sluggishness is rid,
Shall rule o'er all by foot of mighty god bestrid.
The king who never gives way to idleness will obtain entire possession of (the whole earth) passed over by him who measured (the worlds) with His foot.

Chapter. 62. Manly Effort

Kural - 611
Say not, 'Tis hard', in weak, desponding hour,
For strenuous effort gives prevailing power.
Yield not to the feebleness which says, "this is too difficult to be done"; labour will give the greatness (of mind) which is necessary (to do it).

Kural - 612
In action be thou, 'ware of act's defeat;
The world leaves those who work leave incomplete!
Take care not to give up exertion in the midst of a work; the world will abandon those who abandon their unfinished work.

Kural - 613
In strenuous effort doth reside
The power of helping others: noble pride!
The lustre of munificence will dwell only with the dignity of laboriousness or efforts.

Kural - 614
Beneficent intent in men by whom no strenuous work is wrought,
Like battle-axe in sexless being's hand availeth nought.
The liberality of him, who does not labour, will fail, like the manliness of a hermaphrodite, who has a sword in its hand.

Kural - 615
Whose heart delighteth not in pleasure, but in action finds delight,
He wipes away his kinsmen's grief and stands the pillar of their might.
He who desires not pleasure, but desires labour, will be a pillar to sustain his relations, wiping away their sorrows.

Kural - 616
Effort brings fortune's sure increase,
Its absence brings to nothingness.
Labour will produce wealth; idleness will bring poverty.

Kural - 617
In sluggishness is seen misfortune's lurid form, the wise declare;
Where man unslothful toils, she of the lotus flower is there!
They say that the black Mudevi (the goddess of adversity) dwells with laziness, and the Latchmi (the goddess of prosperity) dwells with the labour of the industrious.

Kural - 618
'Tis no reproach unpropitious fate should ban;
But not to do man's work is foul disgrace to man!
Adverse fate is no disgrace to any one; to be without exertion and without knowing what should be known, is disgrace.

Kural - 619
Though fate-divine should make your labour vain;
Effort its labour's sure reward will gain.
Although it be said that, through fate, it cannot be attained, yet labour, with bodily exertion, will yield its reward.

Kural - 620
Who strive with undismayed, unfaltering mind,
At length shall leave opposing fate behind.
They who labour on, without fear and without fainting will see even fate (put) behind their back.

Chapter. 63. Hopefulness in Trouble

Kural - 622
Though sorrow, like a flood, comes rolling on,
When wise men's mind regards it,- it is gone.
A flood of troubles will be overcome by the (courageous) thought which the minds of the wise will entertain, even in sorrow.

Kural - 623
Who griefs confront with meek, ungrieving heart,
From them griefs, put to grief, depart.
They give sorrow to sorrow, who in sorrow do not suffer sorrow.

Kural - 624
Like bullock struggle on through each obstructed way;
From such an one will troubles, troubled, roll away.
Troubles will vanish (i.e., will be troubled) before the man who (struggles against difficulties) as a buffalo (drawing a cart) through deep mire.

Kural - 625
When griefs press on, but fail to crush the patient heart,
Then griefs defeated, put to grief, depart.
The troubles of that man will be troubled (and disappear) who, however thickly they may come upon him, does not abandon (his purpose).

Kural - 626
Who boasted not of wealth, nor gave it all their heart,
Will not bemoan the loss, when prosperous days depart.
Will those men ever cry out in sorrow, "we are destitute" who, (in their prosperity), give not way to (undue desire) to keep their wealth.

Kural - 627
'Man's frame is sorrow's target', the noble mind reflects,
Nor meets with troubled mind the sorrows it expects.
The great will not regard trouble as trouble, knowing that the body is the butt of trouble.

Kural - 628
He seeks not joy, to sorrow man is born, he knows;
Such man will walk unharmed by touch of human woes.
That man never experiences sorrow, who does not seek for pleasure, and who considers distress to be natural (to man).

Kural - 629
Mid joys he yields not heart to joys' control.
Mid sorrows, sorrow cannot touch his soul.
He does not suffer sorrow, in sorrow who does not look for pleasure in pleasure.

Kural - 630
Who pain as pleasure takes, he shall acquire
The bliss to which his foes in vain aspire.
The elevation, which even his enemies will esteem, will be gained by him, who regards pain as pleasure.